The invention relates to hospital type equipment, and in particular, equipment used for body waste elimination. Specifically, the invention relates to equipment for persons who are incapacitated due to age, injury, illness, or other causes. The invention may be used by a user confined to a bed or by a user who is able to sit in a chair.
Elimination of the human body waste products from the kidneys and the intestines is usually voluntary and efficient unless pathological conditions exist. However, that elimination for a healthy person having a healthy intestine and healthy urinary system is quite normal for one who is up and about in a daily routine, but it is another matter for that same person if he or she is bedfast and/or chair fast because of some pathological condition.
The present invention overcomes the problems which may arise because of a pathological condition. The invention is useable by male or female users. Any reference to one sex or the other herein is meant to refer to both sexes.
For bedfast and/or chair fast persons, because of age, injury, illness, or other causes, who may or may not be on a special diet where fluids and food stuffs are limited and often essential nutritional items may be omitted, along with limited activity, these factors may impair the ability to expel urine and fecal matter. This invention overcomes such problems.
Many pathological conditions further impede the ability to respond adequately to the urge to eliminate the human body waste, such as cardiac conditions, nuerological conditions, fractures in the upper torso, and many others.
Medical care personnel recognize that constipation and urinary retention often influence how patients and aged persons under nursing type care respond to their therapy. The discomforts and anxieties that are brought on by the person's inability to eliminate the body wastes increases the intensity of pain and even stimulates a pseudo type pain when actual pain may be absent.
Mere frustration is immenent when a person, faced with the aforementioned conditons, for whatever reason, cannot voice his need to eliminate the human body wastes, or voice his discomfort at the time. As a result other symptoms arise requiring treatment of a multitude of accompanying symptoms such as temperature elevation, nausea, vomiting, restlessness, attitudes, mood changes, and failure to respond to therapy. The present invention is an aid in eliminating these problems.
Often the aforementioned problems, because of the symptoms exhibited, may result in the attending physician changing the course of treatment.
After years of nursing at the bedside the present inventor as a Licensed Practical Nurse and as a Registered Nurse, observing the prescribing of stool softeners, laxatives, fruits such as prunes, enemas, and other similar means to assist the discomforted and distressed person, with no completely satisfactory results, the position of the body in relating to the need to expel body wastes was studied.
It has been evident that the actual body position used for the devices of the prior art was a cause in itself of constipation type problems and urinating type problems. As a result, a new body position was developed that assists in the elimination of the body wastes and coupled with this body position development, the present device was invented. The new body position may be described as Marshall's Squat Technique, or with the use of the present invention, may be described as Marshall's Modified Squat Technique. The two terms may be used interchangeably.
It is to be understood that the aforementioned squat technique would not be possible for an incapacitated person, particularly one who is bed fast and/or chair fast with little or no ability to move about on their own. The invention provides the means whereby the medical care personnel can place the distressed person in a position equivalent to the aforementioned squat technique while remaining in bed or in a seated position.
It is to be understood that the device for human body waste elimination of this invention may be used on hospital type beds or any other type beds.
In order to understand the invention the squat technique will be described, the purpose of which is to assist the distressed person in terms of effective body waste elimination.
The rationale of the technique is that by bringing the knees toward the chest, in varying degrees, exerts gentle pressure on abdominal contents. This action assists in the elimination of congestion in the perineal area and also eliminates pressure toward the lumen of the urethra and the anal sphincter muscle.
The invention that assists the bed fast and/or chain fast person in connection with the aforementioned problems consists of two segments of the invented structure. The first segment is used for bed fast persons who must remain in bed, and the second segment provides the means for persons who may be placed in a seated position. Both segments form the overall structure and are used together.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a device for human body waste elimination that may be used for persons who are incapacitated by reason of age, injury, illness, and other such causes.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a device for human body waste elimination which may be used by an incapacitated person who is bed fast and must remain in bed.
It is another object of the invention to provide a device for human body waste elimination which may be used by an incapacitated person who is able to be seated in a chair.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a device for human body waste elimination which is adjustable to a plurality of positions in conjunction with the ability of the user to use the device to assist in the elimination of body wastes.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a device for human body waste elimination that is compatible for assisting incapacitated persons in using a squat type technique of body waste elimination while confined to a bed.
It is yet still another object of the invention to provide a device for human body waste elimination that is compatible for assisting incapacitated persons in using a squat type technique of body waste elimination while confined in a seated position.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the light of the following description of the preferred embodiments.